...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7329039 | Systems and methods for determining a state of fluidization and/or a state of mixing Apparatus and methods are disclosed for treating a sample by selectively controlling sonic energy and/or selectively controlling the location of the sample relative to the sonic energy. ... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7323140 | Moving microdroplets in a microfluidic device The present invention relates to a system and method for moving samples, such as fluid, within a microfluidic system using a plurality of gas actuators for applying pressure at different locations within the microfluidic. The system includes a substrate which forms ... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7270786 | Methods and systems for processing microfluidic samples of particle containing fluids The present invention relates to a microfluidic system for processing a cell-containing liquid. The system includes a microfabricated substrate having an enrichment channel to prepare an enriched cell sample from the cell-containing liquid. A flow through member is ... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7238323 | Microfluidic sequencing systems Integrated systems, apparatus, software, and methods for performing biochemical analysis, including DNA sequencing, genomic screening, purification of nucleic acids and other biological components and drug screening are provided. Microfluidic devices, systems and me... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7226562 | Liquid analysis cartridge The present invention provides an apparatus and method for storing a particle-containing liquid. The storage apparatus comprises a microfluidic convoluted flow channel having a plurality of particle capture regions. The storage channel is preferably an isotropic spa... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7220334 | Method of manufacturing microdevice having laminated structure The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a microdevice having a fine capillary cavity formed as a cut portion of a very thin layer which is likely to be broken, particularly a method of manufacturing a microdevice having complicated passages formed i... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7192557 | Methods and systems for releasing intracellular material from cells within microfluidic samples of fluids The present invention relates to a microfluidic system for processing a cell-containing liquid. The system includes a lysing zone to receive the cell-containing sample and a positioning element to position the cell-containing sample in a lysing position in the vicin... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7157234 | Detection of very low quantities of analyte bound to a solid phase A microscale binding assay, analyte binding array, and kits are disclosed, which exploit the mass action law to harvest analyte from a liquid sample. This is achieved by fabrication of sorbent zones having up to ten times the binding capacity per unit area generally... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7150994 | Parallel flow process optimization reactor Parallel flow reaction systems comprising four or more reaction channels are disclosed. Distribution systems, and parallel flow reaction systems comprising such distribution systems are also disclosed. Specifically, the distribution systems comprise one or more subs... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7122156 | Parallel flow reactor having variable composition Parallel flow reaction systems comprising four or more reaction channels are disclosed. Distribution systems, and parallel flow reaction systems comprising such distribution systems are also disclosed. Specifically, the distribution systems comprise a feed-compositi... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7118917 | Parallel flow reactor having improved thermal control Parallel flow chemical processing systems, such as parallel flow chemical reaction systems are disclosed. These systems are adapted to simultaneously and independently vary temperature between separate flow channels, preferably by employing separate, individual heat... | 10/10/2006 |
| 6964736 | Method and apparatus for analysis and sorting of polynucleotides based on size The invention relates to a microfabricated device and methods of using the device for analyzing and sorting polynucleotide molecules by size. ... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6948843 | Method and apparatus for acoustically controlling liquid solutions in microfluidic devices Acoustic energy is used to control motion in a fluid. According to one embodiment, the invention directs acoustic energy at selected naturally occurring nucleation features to control motion in the fluid. In another embodiment, the invention provides focussed or unf... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6902934 | Methods for identifying optimizing catalysts in parallel-flow microreactors A chemical processing microsystem useful for identifying and optimizing, materials (e.g., catalysts) that enhance chemical processes or for characterizing and/or optimizing chemical processes is disclosed. The chemical processing microsystem comprises a plurality of... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6868805 | Horizontally oriented combustion apparatus A combustion chamber for a chiller includes a burner and igniter which are maintained in the horizontal position. The horizontal positioning is implemented by a steel casting, which includes a thick flange portion. The thick flange portion is between the combustion ... | 03/22/2005 |